AND 







THE GREENWOOD SERIES 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


AND 

BRUSHTAILTHE FOX 


By 

THOMAS CLARK HINKLE 

// 


Author'^of ^'Doctor Rabbit and Tom Wildcat” ^Doctor 
Rabbit and Ki-Yi Coyote” ” Doctor Rabbit 
and Grumpy Bear” 



RAND McNALLY & COMPANY 

CHICAGO NEW YORK 





Copyright, igiQ,hy 
Rand McNally & Company 





M/1 I c/ 1 3 1 y 


©CI.A5a54B4 



Bru^htail the Fox/' 

Doctor R^^bbit -5aid 


p 



CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Brushtail The Fox Comes to the Big 

Green Woods 7 

Chatty Red Squirrel is Heard Scold- 
ing Loudly 12 

Brushtail The Fox Plays “Possum” . 17 

Brushtail Gets a Scare .... 22 

Doctor Rabbit Sees Something Inter- 
esting 27 

Two Hunters Come to the Big Green 

Woods .33 

Doctor Rabbit Informs His Friends . 37 

What Doctor Rabbit Saw ... 41 

Mrs. Brushtail Gets a Hen ... 46 

Brushtail The Fox Finds Some Pieces 

OF Cheese 51 

The Growlers Come Out of the 

Thicket 57 

Jack Rabbit Sprains His Foot ... 62 


5 


6 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Doctoring Little Thomas Woodchuck 68 
Listening to the Brushtails ... 74 

Doctor Rabbit Tells Some Good News 79 

A Foolish Old Hen 82 

Doctor Rabbit Lays a Trap ... 86 

Brushtail The Fox is Almost Caught 92 

An Exciting Chase 100 

The Big Gray Goose Gets Away . . 105 

Brushtail The Fox Finds the Traps . 110 

Getting Together 114 

Brushtail The Fox Discovers the 

Cow’s Head 119 

What Happened to Brushtail The 

Fox 123 



BRUSHTAIL THE FOX COMES 
TO THE BIG GREEN WOODS 
Doctor Rabbit and Cheepy Chipmunk 
were sitting in Doctor Rabbit’s front 
yard talking. They laughed a good 
deal as they talked, for it was a lovely 
morning in the beautiful Big Green 
Woods, and everyone felt happy. 

Finally jolly Doctor Rabbit said he 
believed he would run over to the big 
sycamore tree to eat some more of 
the tender blue grass that grew there. 
It seemed as if he could eat there all 
day and all night, he said, because 
that grass was so good. Cheepy Chip- 
munk said he was getting hungry again 
too, and he guessed he would be going 
home to eat the fresh ear of com he 
had found that morning. 


7 


8 DOCTOR RABBIT 

Cheepy Chipmunk got up and was 
starting away, when Doctor Rabbit 
seized him and said in a low, fright- 
ened whisper that scared Cheepy half 
to death, ''Come back and sit down 
and keep as still as anything. Look 
out there, will you!'' 

Very badly startled, Cheepy Chip- 
munk came back and sat down, and 
his eyes followed Doctor Rabbit's eyes. 
Cheepy saw an animal such as he had 
never seen before. This animal looked 
somewhat like a dog, but Cheepy knew 
right away he was no dog. ,He was 
not quite so large as Ki-yi Coyote, and 
was of a reddish-brown color, with a 
large, bushy tail. The animal was walk- 
ing along under the trees not far away, 
and did not even look in the direction 
of Doctor Rabbit and little Cheepy 
Chipmunk. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 9 

But, although he could not tell why, 
Cheepy knew at once that that reddish- 
brown animal walking along out there 
under the trees was very dangerous to 
chipmunks and rabbits and any number 
of other little animals. Yes, sir, Cheepy 
Chipmunk was dreadfully frightened at 
once, for he was certain his life and the 
lives of Stubby Woodchuck, Chatty 
Red Squirrel and all his other friends 
were in great danger. But he had 
never seen such an animal before, so 
of course he did not know what it was. 

While Doctor Rabbit and Cheepy 
Chipmunk looked, the strange animal 
walked along just as if he were not 
interested in anything. He did not 
even look toward Doctor Rabbit and 
Cheepy Chipmunk. This fooled inno- 
cent Cheepy, and he whispered to Doctor 
Rabbit, ‘‘He has not seen us; let’s 


10 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


slip into your house! I don't want him 
to catch sight of us." 

‘'Keep right still!" Doctor Rabbit 
whispered in reply. “Just sit still. Yes» 
he has seen us — don't you fool your- 
self about that. But he knows well 
enough he can't catch us now. He's 
made up his mind he'll wait until he 
gets a better chance. But we won't 
let him know we see him. We'll have 
to try to deceive him at every turn. 
Yes, sir, Cheepy, we've got to watch 
out every minute now; we certainly 
have. He's one of the most cunning 
animals there is. I'm sorry he's come 
into our woods." 

Cheepy Chipmunk was so frightened 
that his teeth were chattering as he 
asked, “Who is he?" 

“He's Brushtail the Fox," Doctor 
Rabbit said. “I saw him a number of 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 11 

times in the woods up along the Deep 
River where I used to live. We'll see 
more of him — we can count on that. 
And now, Friend Cheepy, you must stay 
right here at my house until we are 
sure Brushtail has stopped watching us 
out of the comer of his eye." 


CHATTY RED SQUIRREL IS 
HEARD SCOLDING LOUDLY 
Doctor Rabbit was right. Brushtail 
the Fox had seen exactly who was in 
Doctor Rabbit's front yard, but he did 
not act as if he knew there was any one 
within a mile of him. No, he just kept 
right on walking slowly under the trees. 
And then all of a sudden Chatty Red 
Squirrel almost made him look up. 
Chatty was high up in a big hackberry 
tree, and from this safe perch he scolded 
Brushtail as loudly as he could. 

‘‘Get out of these woods!" Chatty 
Squirrel shouted angrily. “You have 
no right in here. You are just sneaking 
around trying to catch somebody. But 
you can't. I won't let you. I 'll tell on 
you. Look here, everybody. Here is 
12 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 13 

old Brushtail the Fox. I know you, Mr. 
Brushtail. Tve seen you before in the 
woods up along the Deep River. Look 
out, everybody! Brushtail is around. 
He's right under this tree, right this 
minute. I can see him. Look out for 
Mr. Brushtail! Here he is!" 

Well, Doctor Rabbit and Cheepy Chip- 
munk watched and listened while Chatty 
Squirrel scolded Brushtail the Fox so 
loudly. But Brushtail paid no atten- 
tion whatever to Chatty. The fact was 
that he did hear every word Chatty 
Squirrel said and he was pretty angry 
about it, too, because you see he did 
not want all the little creatures of the 
Big Green Woods to know he was 
around. He wanted to get one or two 
of them for breakfast before they even 
dreamed he was anywhere near. 

But even if he was angry, Brushtail 


14 DOCTOR RABBIT 

knew, of course, that he could not 
climb that tree after Chatty Squirrel, 
so he just ground his teeth and walked 
on. He decided that he would make 
Chatty pay for this, indeed he would. 
He would catch him the very first of 
all. And so as Doctor Rabbit and 
Cheepy Chipmunk looked and listened, 
Brushtail, without saying a word, walked 
on and finally slipped out of sight 
among some leafy bushes. 

"‘Fm going home this minute!'' 
Cheepy Chipmunk exclaimed, his voice 
trembling with fear; and away he went 
for his stump as fast as he could run. 

After Cheepy had gone. Doctor Rab- 
bit said to himself, ‘‘Well, I do declare! 
So Brushtail the Fox has found the 
Big Green Woods, and likely enough 
intends to live here. If he does we'll 
certainly all have to watch out every 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 15 

minute. Indeed we will. I 'm glad 
Chatty Squirrel is scolding so loudly. 
Perhaps our friends will all hear and 
be on the lookout.” 

Chatty Squirrel, who had followed 
along in the branches of the trees and 
kept sight of slinky Brushtail, was now 
heard quite a distance away, scolding 
louder than ever. 

‘‘I wonder what Chatty is scolding 
about out there now,” Doctor Rabbit 
said. ‘'It sounds as if he were still 
talking to Brushtail. Perhaps Brush- 
tail has stopped out there, and possibly 
he has caught something and is eating 
it. Tm going to slip out that way 
and see. Fll take the path that leads 
past several briar patches, and if Mr. 
Fox runs for me Til just slip into a 
briar patch. If he tries to follow me 
in there he knows what he’ll get. He’ll 


16 DOCTOR RABBIT 

get his eyes scratched out with the 
briars. My, how Chatty is scolding! 
He's scolding Brushtail, too. Brushtail 
must be doing something unusual or 
Chatty would not talk so excitedly." 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX PLAYS 
^‘POSSUM 

Doctor Rabbit hurried away from his 
home toward the place where he heard 
Chatty Squirrel scolding Brushtail the 
Fox. Doctor Rabbit, to tell the truth, 
was afraid to venture out there so close 
to Brushtail, but then, he reasoned, he 
would have to go sooner or later and 
get something to eat, so he might as 
well venture out now and see what the 
old villain was doing. 

Doctor Rabbit kept in the path that 
led past several briar patches, and this 
made him feel pretty safe. The nearer 
Doctor Rabbit came to the place where 
Chatty Squirrel was scolding, the louder 
sounded Chatty's angry voice. Doctor 
Rabbit crept close, and slipped into a 


2 


17 


18 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


briar patch. Not more than twenty 
feet away, lying on the ground as still 
as if he were dead, was Brushtail the 
Fox. But he did not fool Doctor Rab- 
bit in the least. Doctor Rabbit knew 
instantly what Brushtail wanted : he 
wanted Chatty Squirrel. 

Because Brushtail lay so still and paid 
not the least attention to his scolding. 
Chatty Squirrel became really puzzled. 
He stopped scolding and said to himself, 
'‘Now I wonder if that old scamp is 
dead. He certainly lies there very still, 
anyway. I believe Til just slip down 
on the ground for a minute and see. 
If he's just playing dead, he'll come after 
me when I get on the ground. Then 
I’ll know for sure, and I'll go back up 
the tree in a hurry." 

Chatty Squirrel scrambled down the 
tree, and as soon as he reached the 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 19 

ground he began scolding Brushtail the 
Fox. He thought, of course, that this 
would make Brushtail jump up if he 
were only playing dead; but Brushtail 
paid no attention to Chatty. He lay 
as still as a dead fox. Chatty Squirrel 
ran a little way toward him, but was 
afraid to venture far. Just then he 
happened to see Doctor Rabbit hiding 
under the briar patch, motioning for 
him to come over, and looking as though 
he knew something very funny. 

There happened to be another tree 
by the briar patch, so Chatty Squirrel 
sprang right over to see what Doctor 
Rabbit wanted. Doctor Rabbit whis- 
pered something in Chatty's ear, and 
then they chuckled softly to themselves. 
The more Chatty thought about what 
Doctor Rabbit had said, the more he 
laughed— not very loudly, of course. 


20 DOCTOR RABBIT 

because he did not want Brushtail the 
Fox to hear. 

'‘Hurry along now before he gets up!'' 
Doctor Rabbit whispered, and away ran 
Chatty Squirrel back to the tree he had 
left. Chatty scrambled back up the 
tree in a hurry, and began scolding 
Brushtail louder than ever. He did not 
say a word about Doctor Rabbit, of 
course; he just went right on scolding 
as if nothing had happened. 

Now Brushtail the Fox ‘was not dead, 
and as he lay there very still he thought 
every minute Chatty Squirrel's curiosity 
would get the better of him and Chatty 
would come down the tree and close 
enough so that he could pounce upon 
him. But Chatty did just exactly what 
Doctor Rabbit had told him to do. 

"I wish," he said aloud, "that I 
knew whether Mr. Fox is really dead. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 21 


He lies so still I believe he is, and if 
he lies there much longer I shall have 
to go down and see. Yes, Til have to 
go down and poke him and see!'' 

Brushtail the Fox could scarcely keep 
from smacking his lips when Chatty 
said this, but he did not move, of course. 
He lay perfectly still, not even winking 
an eye, for he was very hungry, and 
he hoped Chatty Squirrel would decide 
to hurry and come down. 

And all the -time that Chatty Squirrel 
up in the tree was scolding. Doctor 
Rabbit was working at something in 
the near-by thicket. Chatty, you see, 
was going to keep Brushtail's attention 
until Doctor Rabbit played a good 
joke on old Brushtail. 


BRUSHTAIL GETS A SCARE 

Now, this was what Doctor Rabbit 
was doing in the near-by thicket. He 
gathered some moss, and rolled it into 
a big ball. Then he took a bottle of 
medicine from his medicine case. The 
bottle had ammonia in it — spirits of 
ammonia, it was — and Doctor Rabbit 
poured the medicine all over and through 
the big ball of moss. 

My, but that ammonia smelled strong! 
I should say it did smell strong. It 
was so strong, in fact, that Doctor 
Rabbit had to turn his head partly 
away from the moss while he poured 
the medicine on it. Now Doctor Rab- 
bit had to be very, very careful. He 
picked up the ball of moss in his front 
paws and walked toward Brushtail the 


22 





A^! How he did Jump andjrell 


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BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 23 

Fox, who lay on the ground with his 
eyes shut tight. 

Chatty Squirrel kept up a very loud 
scolding as Doctor Rabbit slipped up 
to Brushtail. Then when he was very 
near, Doctor Rabbit threw that moss 
with all the terribly strong ammonia 
right on BrushtaiFs head and over his 
nose. Brushtail got such a big whiff 
of the medicine that he almost strangled. 
My, how he did jump and yell! He was 
terribly scared, because he did not know 
for a minute what had happened. 

Then he heard Chatty up on the 
limb laughing and shouting for joy. 
Doctor Rabbit ran back to the edge 
of the thicket, and he was laughing 
too. It certainly did look funny to 
see Brushtail the Fox standing and 
staring at that moss as if he thought 
it was something alive. 


24 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


When Brushtail saw that a joke had 
been played on him he was terribly 
angry. He knew, of course, he could 
not get Chatty, so he made a rush for 
Doctor Rabbit. 

But Doctor Rabbit skipped into the 
thicket, picked up his medicine case 
and shouted, ''Good day, Mr. Fox! I 
guess you won't have Chatty for break- 
fast! You'd better eat the moss ball." 

And away Doctor Rabbit ran. In a 
twinkling he was out of sight in the 
leafy woods. 

Brushtail the Fox ran after Doctor 
Rabbit as fast as he could go, but it 
was no use. He could not find Tiim. 
Now it happened that Doctor Rabbit 
had not gone far at all. He was not 
far from home, so he just hid behind 
a big log. And he was watching Brush- 
tail the Fox all the time. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 25 


After a time Brush tail sat down and 
kept still. His sharp eyes, however, 
were looking in every direction. He 
thought he might see Doctor Rabbit by 
keeping quiet and looking about him. 

Doctor Rabbit, as I have said, was 
so close to his home that he knew he 
was safe, so he walked quietly from 
behind the log, holding his medicine case 
and acting just as though he did not 
know that Brushtail the Fox was any- 
where about. 

Brushtail quickly lay down and was 
as quiet as possible. 

Then Doctor Rabbit stopped, looked 
back, and said pleasantly, “It's a nice 
morning. Brushy." 

That surely surprised Brushtail, but 
when he saw Doctor Rabbit's home 
tree not far away, he knew he could 
not catch him. So he smiled and said. 


26 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


‘‘Tve just been playing with you all 
the time. Do come on over to my 
home, Neighbor Rabbit. I have some- 
thing very fine there to show you. 
We’ll have some good times together.” 

‘‘Ha! ha! ha!” wise Doctor Rabbit 
laughed, as he started toward his big 
tree. “Yes,” he continued, “I sup- 
pose you have some very cruel teeth 
to show me, Mr. Brushtail, but I can 
see them quite as well as I care to. 
Ha! ha! ha!” And Doctor Rabbit ran 
for his tree. 

Brushtail ran after him, too, but 
Doctor Rabbit ran fast and reached 
his home in safety. There he peeked 
out and saw Brushtail steal into some 
bushes. 


DOCTOR RABBIT SEES SOME- 
THING INTERESTING 

Now when Doctor Rabbit ran into 
the big hollow tree that was his home, 
Brushtail the Fox slunk into some leafy 
bushes near by, and lay down without 
making a sound. 

‘‘ril just wait here,'’ Brushtail whis- 
pered to himself, ‘‘and that smart old 
rabbit will be coming out pretty soon. 
He won't know that I 'm anywhere 
about." 

But old Brushtail was very much 
mistaken, for Doctor Rabbit had peeked 
out of his front door just as soon as he 
was inside his house, and you remember 
he saw Brushtail steal into the bushes. 
No, sir, he was n't to be fooled this time. 

For a long time Brushtail lay in the 


27 


28 DOCTOR RABBIT 

bushes. He lay so quietly that not a 
leaf on the branches about him stirred. 
His glittering eyes were turned toward 
Doctor Rabbit's tree, and every little 
while he showed his long, sharp teeth 
as he smiled at the thought of the good 
meal that big fat rabbit would make. 

But all the while Doctor Rabbit 
v/atched from an upstairs window where 
Brushtail could not see him, although 
Doctor Rabbit could plainly see the 
pointed nose and sharp, gleaming eyes 
of his enemy. 

Presently Doctor Rabbit heard the 
rustle of leaves and the gay chatter, 
chatter, chatter of Chatty Red Squirrel 
as he bounded into the branches of a 
tree overlooking the bushes that hid 
Brushtail. 

Doctor Rabbit drew a long breath of 
relief. He wasn't afraid of Brushtail 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 29 


the Fox when he was safe in his big 
hollow tree— oh no, you mustn't think 
that, not for a moment. But you see 
Doctor Rabbit was getting pretty tired 
and stiff from watching so cautiously 
from his upstairs window, and yet he 
could n't quite bring himself to the 
point of going downstairs and forgetting 
Brushtail. No indeed, he could n't quite 
do that. 

So Doctor Rabbit was glad to see 
Chatty Red Squirrel, for he knew just 
what would happen. And sure enough, 
in a few minutes Chatty Squirrel saw 
Brushtail lying low in the bushes, and 
then how he did scold! 

''Aha, old Brushtail, I see you hiding 
in the bushes. Thought I would n't 
see you, didn't you? Thought I wouldn't 
see you! But I see you, all right. You 
can't fool Chatty, no siree. Oh, I know 


30 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


you're looking for Doctor Rabbit," and 
Chatty's tone became angrier at the 
thought of Brushtail waiting to pounce 
upon his good friend, Doctor Rabbit. 
“You're just waiting for Doctor Rabbit 
to come home and then spring out at 
him. Get out of here, get out, get out 
of here!" screamed Chatty. 

Brushtail the Fox was angry. Well, 
I should say he was. He knew that 
Doctor Rabbit would hear Chatty Red 
Squirrel's scolding, and would know that 
he was hiding ready to eat him if he 
came out of the tree. Brushtail was so 
angry that he snarled. But he slunk 
away through the bushes without say- 
ing a word to Chatty Red. Brushtail 
is wise enough to know that there is 
no use arguing with Chatty Squirrel, 
for Chatty is altogether too noisy a 
talker. I should say he is. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 31 

When Brushtail slunk away through 
the bushes, Doctor Rabbit called to 
Chatty Red Squirrel, but Chatty did 
not hear him. He had scampered away 
to another tree, ‘still talking loudly. 

Then Doctor Rabbit turned quickly 
and leaned out of his window to watch 
Brushtail the Fox. Brushtail was trot- 
ting off through the Big Green Woods in 
a direction in which Doctor Rabbit sel- 
dom went. And Doctor Rabbit noticed 
that he seemed to be afraid someone 
would see him. He looked on each 
side of him as he went along, and every 
now and then he took a big jump) side- 
wise. Doctor Rabbit was certainly inter- 
ested now, for he believed Brushtail the 
Fox was going to hide somewhere. Prob- 
ably he was going to hide in a place 
where he hid every day. 

Yes, sir, Brushtail certainly was cau- 


32 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


tious now, and he must have jumped 
to one side as many as five times while 
Doctor Rabbit was watching him. Then 
in a little while he reached a part of the 
woods where the brush and leaves were 
so thick that Doctor Rabbit could just 
barely see him as he slipped along. 


TWO HUNTERS COME TO THE 
BIG GREEN WOODS 
When Brushtail the Fox slipped into 
the place where there were so many 
leafy bushes, it was very hard for Doctor 
Rabbit to see him from his big tree. 
Sometimes he lost sight of Brushtail 
altogether, and then for an instant 
he would see his long, sharp nose, or 
his reddish-brown coat, or his big bushy 
tail. And all the time Brushtail became 
more and more cautious. He moved so 
slowly and so quietly among the bushes 
that Doctor Rabbit had to strain his 
eyes to see him. Then suddenly Brush- 
tail jumped high up onto the dead limb 
of a big fallen tree. He walked out on 
this limb, then jumped far out into a 
dense thicket and disappeared. 

33 


3 


34 DOCTOR RABBIT 

Yes, sir, Brushtail the Fox was gone! 
Doctor Rabbit stood by his window in 
the tree and looked and looked. He 
thought he would presently see a sharp 
nose or a bushy tail, but he did not. 
Brushtail was hiding somewhere in that 
thicket. 

'‘Well! well! well!'' Doctor Rabbit 
exclaimed. "I certainly should like to 
know what old Brushtail is doing in 
there. I am positive he is in that 
thicket. He never could have slipped 
out without my seeing him. Yes, sir, 
he's in there. And that's probably 
where he always hides. Likely enough 
he has a den in there. I shouldn't be 
surprised if there are a lot of rocks in 
there and Brushtail the Fox has a big 
hole away back under them." 

"Well," Doctor Rabbit continued, 
talking softly to himself, "I'm going 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 35 


to slip out there as near as possible and 
keep watch and see if I can discover 
anything more about Brushtail. I must 
not tell anyone as yet what I have seen. 
No, if I want to get a lot of information 
I must just keep still and do the finding 
out myself. It isn't safe to trust too 
many people." 

Doctor Rabbit ran downstairs and 
was starting out into the woods to try 
to get nearer Brushtail's hiding place 
when he saw something that made him 
keep still and watch. Farmer Roe and 
his boy were coming through the woods 
toward Doctor Rabbit's tree. Just as 
they went past, Doctor Rabbit heard 
Farmer Roe say, '‘Yes, I'm certain that 
there is a fox in these woods. That 
was a fox's track we saw in the yard 
this morning, and that was a fox, I 
am sure, that took the old white hen 


36 DOCTOR RABBIT 

last night. Our chickens will be in 
danger until we get rid of him.'’ 

‘'Do you suppose he hides in these 
woods in the daytime?" asked Farmer 
Roe’s boy. 

“I shouldn’t be surprised,’’ replied 
Farmer Roe. “In fact, I’m pretty sure 
he hides close by. There is one thing 
that puzzles me, however, and that is 
that although Yappy trailed that fox 
directly from the chicken yard, he lost 
the trail right in the woods, and could 
not pick it up again. The fox has played 
some trick, of course,’’ said Farmer Roe, 
“and we must try and find out what it 
is. I really shouldn’t be surprised,’’ 
he went on, “if that fox is lying around 
close enough to see us this minute. 
We’ll just keep watch until we discover 
his hiding place.’’ 


DOCTOR RABBIT INFORMS HIS 
FRIENDS 


Doctor Rabbit did not find out any- 
thing more about Brushtail the Fox 
that day, nor for several days. But 
it was only a very short time until all 
the little creatures of the Big Green 
Woods knew that Brushtail the Fox 
was around, and they were afraid to 
poke their noses out of their homes. 

Stubby Woodchuck had seen Brush- 
tail three times, and he said Brushtail 
certainly did look fierce. 

‘‘He looked so fierce he took fny 
appetite away for several hours each 
time I saw him,'' said Stubby Wood- 
chuck, “and I am sure he looks fully 
as terrible as Ki-yi Coyote or Tom Wild- 
cat. Yes, sir, we have a very mean and 
37 


38 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


dangerous enemy in Mr. Brushtail, and 
we must keep watch every minute.’' 

‘‘I wish he’d go away and stay away,” 
said Cheepy Chipmunk, who was always 
easily frightened. 

'‘But he doesn’t expect to leave at 
all,” Doctor Rabbit informed his friends. 
“He expects to live here in these woods, 
right along.” 

"He does!” exclaimed poor Cheepy 
Chipmunk, his voice trembling with 
fear. "How do you know he expects 
to live here?” 

"Well,” explained Doctor Rabbit, "I 
have seen quite enough to convince me 
that Brushtail expects to make his home 
in the Big Green Woods. In fact, I 
am in position to know that he has a 
home here right now. It’s all fixed up, 
and he’s living in it. He spends his 
time there except when he ’s out hunting 



*‘5h! ” Doctor Rabbit warned hi^ 
friends. “Don’t t 2 y.lk so loud! 




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AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 39 

US or after one of Farmer Roe's nice 
fat hens." 

‘‘Where is old Brushtail's home?" 
Stubby Woodchuck and Cheepy Chip- 
munk demanded in the same breath. 

“Sh!" Doctor Rabbit warned his 
friends. “Don't talk so loud! Brush- 
tail might be hiding so near he could 
hear every word you say. The fact is, 
I can't tell you any more at present. 
It would not help if I told you more, 
and it might get out so Brushtail would 
hear of it. Just keep still about what 
I've said and watch for Brushtail every 
minute you are out in the woods. In 
the meantime whenever I get a chance 
I will hide in a certain place, where I 
can see him often enough, I think, to 
discover what his plans are. Then when 
I find out all I can, I will slip around 
quietly and tell you." 


40 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


'‘I saw Farmer Roe and his boy pass- 
ing through our woods this morning/’ 
Stubby Woodchuck said. ‘‘I wonder 
what they were after?” 

‘‘They were after Brushtail,” Doctor 
Rabbit explained. “I heard them talk- 
ing and I heard them say they were 
trying to find out where he lives.” 

“Dear me! I hope they’ll run him 
away so he’ll never come back!” said 
Cheepy Chipmunk, with a troubled look. 

“They’ll probably have to find out 
first where he lives,” said Doctor Rab- 
bit, “and I believe that is going to be 
pretty hard for them to do. But still, 
Yappy has a very sharp nose, and in 
time he may find Brushtail’s den.” 

It was dinner time, so Doctor Rabbit 
and Stubby Woodchuck and Cheepy 
Chipmunk separated, each slipping home 
as quietly as he could. 


WHAT DOCTOR RABBIT SAW 

Doctor Rabbit did not see Brushtail 
the Fox again for several days. Then 
one morning when the sun came up 
warm and bright and all the little crea- 
tures of the Big Green Woods were feeling 
very happy, Doctor Rabbit decided that 
he would try again. He made up his 
mind to slip over to that thicket where he 
had last seen Brushtail, and see what 
he could discover with his sharp eyes. 

There were a good many briar patches 
along the way, and Doctor Rabbit kept 
as near these as possible, so he was 
safe, even though the way was a little 
longer. You can be very sure, too, that 
Doctor Rabbit kept his eyes wide open 
all the time. But he did not see the 
least sign of Brushtail the Fox, and 


41 


42 DOCTOR RABBIT 

decided that he was probably some- 
where in that dense thicket. 

‘'Perhaps/' thought Doctor Rabbit, 
“old Brushtail is in there right now 
eating a chicken he has stolen from 
Farmer Roe." 

Now the very thought of getting any 
nearer that thicket made Doctor Rabbit 
tremble with fear. Still, there was a 
fine big briar patch close to the thicket, 
and Doctor Rabbit decided he would 
run for this. He had hidden in that 
briar patch several times from various 
enemies, and was familiar with every 
inch of it. He knew he would be safe 
from Brushtail in the briar patch, and 
all Brushtail could do if he saw Doctor 
Rabbit hiding there would be just to 
wait outside. But he would have to 
give up in the end, because Doctor 
Rabbit never would come out of a briar 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 43 

patch so long as an enemy was waiting 
for him. 

Doctor Rabbit got all ready, and 
then he ran for that briar patch. He 
ran as hard as he could and dived into 
the briar patch just as if Brushtail were 
very close behind him, because, you 
see, it might be that Brushtail was 
very close. Then Doctor Rabbit crept 
to the center of the briar patch and 
sat down. He decided that if necessary 
he would stay in the briar patch all day 
and watch. He knew Brushtail the 
Fox had some kind of a secret in that 
thicket — a den or something — else he 
never would have been so careful about 
getting into it. 

Doctor Rabbit waited for about two 
hours, and he was already getting tired 
when all of a sudden he sat as still as 
a stone. In fact, he sat so perfectly 


44 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


still that I doubt if you could have 
seen him even if you had been looking 
right at him. 

The reason why Doctor Rabbit sat 
still so quickly was that he saw a move- 
ment in the leafy thicket. Presently 
the bushes parted, and who do you 
suppose came out? No, it was not 
Brush tail— it was Mrs. Brushtail! And 
now Doctor Rabbit knew exactly why 
Brushtail had been so careful about 
getting into that thicket. It was Mr. 
and Mrs. Brushtail’s home. And it 
was here, of course, that Farmer Roe’s 
hens were disappearing, and this was 
where Doctor Rabbit and Stubby Wood- 
chuck and all their friends would go if 
they didn’t watch out! Yes, sir! This 
was where a great many of the little 
creatures of the Big Green Woods would 
disappear if Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 45 

did not leave. While Doctor Rabbit 
was looking at Mrs. Brushtail she yawned, 
showing all of her long, sharp teeth. 
Although he was safe in the briar 
patch. Doctor Rabbit trembled. He was 
a little too close to old Mrs. Brushtail 
to feel quite comfortable. 


MRS. BRUSHTAIL GETS A HEN 
Of course Doctor Rabbit was greatly 
surprised to see Mrs. Brushtail in the 
thicket. And still, after he thought 
about it, he was not so surprised either. 
You see, it was spring and just the time 
of year for Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail to 
find themselves a new home if they 
needed one. 

Mrs. Brushtail stood there looking 
about in every direction with her sharp 
eyes. Then she gave a great spring and 
landed on the limb of the fallen tree. 
She walked along the limb until she 
came to the end of it, and then jumped, 
as Brushtail had done, as far out as 
she could, only Mrs. Brushtail did not 
jump toward the thicket, she jumped 
away from it. She stood again looking 

46 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 47 

all around and listening for a minute, 
then trotted away through the woods 
toward Farmer Roe's, and was soon out 
of sight. 

Doctor Rabbit thought to himself, 
'‘Mrs. Brushtail is going over to the 
edge of the woods nearest to Farmer 
Roe's. She's going to hide there and 
see if some foolish hen doesn't come 
out into the woods to hunt bugs and 
grasshoppers." 

And he made up his mind that as 
long as he was safe he would just wait 
where he was and see if Mrs. Brushtail 
would come back. 

Well, he did not have to wait very 
long. As he sat in the briar patch 
listening, he heard a terrible cackling 
over toward the edge of the woods 
nearest Farmer Roe's. It sounded as 
if chickens were very much frightened 


48 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


and were running in every direction. 
In a short time Doctor Rabbit saw Mrs. 
Brushtail coming through the woods. 
And sure enough, she had one of Farmer 
Roe’s big white hens in her mouth. 

Mrs. Brushtail held the hen by the 
neck, and after making a wide circle 
and jumping to one side as far as she 
could she came to the fallen tree. When 
she looked up at the high limb she 
seemed puzzled. You see, she could 
not jump so high with the hen. But 
she was pretty wise. She laid the hen 
upon the trunk of the tree, then jumped 
upon the limb above, and reaching down, 
picked up the hen and walked out along 
the limb toward the leafy thicket. Then 
she sprang into the thicket and dis- 
appeared. 

How Doctor Rabbit did want to see 
the inside of that thicket! And what 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 49 


made him all the more curious was that 
he was certain he heard a number of 
growls after Mrs. Brushtail disappeared 
in there. And the growls did not sound 
like Mrs. Brushtaihs voice, or like Brush- 
tail's either. 

Yes, sir, there was something very 
interesting going on in that thicket, and 
Doctor Rabbit made up his mind he 
must see what it was, if possible. He 
wondered where Brushtail was. Doctor 
Rabbit disliked to go any nearer the 
thicket unless he knew where that sly 
old fox was. 

‘‘But," he said to himself, “likely 
enough Mr. Brushtail is in the thicket 
with Mrs. Brushtail and is helping her 
eat that chicken. Anyway, it's only a 
little distance to that tree with a hole 
in the base and a lot of prickly vines 
around it. I'm going to run for it! 


4 


50 DOCTOR RABBIT 

The distance is so short that Brushtail 
would not have time to get me even 
if he saw me. Til get to the tree, 
and if Brushtail should come after me 
ril run into the hole at the base of the 
tree. Til find out about old Brushy 
before he knows it. And the first thing 
they know they will be going out of 
these woods in a hurry. But I must 
be very, very careful. I should say I 
must! I must watch every second. My, 
how those animals in that thicket do 
growl! It sounds almost as if they were 
quarreling.'' 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX FINDS 
SOME PIECES OF CHEESE 
Doctor Rabbit was just ready to run 
to the tree with the prickly vines around 
it when he crouched low and sat very 
still again. He heard somebody com- 
ing through the woods. Pretty soon he 
saw that it was Farmer Roe. 

The farmer stopped when he got close 
to the briar patch and muttered to him- 
self, ‘'Every spring I have to rid these 
woods of a fox or two. I guess Til 
just put out a little bait for them and 
see how that will work.'' 

As soon as Doctor Rabbit heard 
Farmer Roe coming through the woods 
he noticed that everything in the thicket 
grew very quiet. I should say it did! 
There was not the least sound in there— 


51 


52 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


not a single growl. And there Farmer 
Roe stood within twenty feet of the 
home of Mr. and Mrs. Bmshtail without 
ever dreaming of it. 

Farmer Roe had gloves on, and he 
held a number of pieces of cheese on 
one hand. He put several of these 
pieces of cheese under the fallen tree. 
Right near the thicket he placed some 
more cheese, partly under some dead 
leaves. Then Farmer Roe went around 
placing the cheese here and there where 
he thought the fox would be most likely 
to find it. After a time he put the last 
piece of cheese under an old log. 

Then he straightened up and said, 
'‘There, now! That ought to fix him, 
or both of them, if there are two instead 
of one. Tm glad Yappy has been 
trained not to eat anything he finds 
out in the woods,'’ he added, "for this 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 53 


bait would be the end of him, too! And 
that would never do/' 

And Farmer Roe walked back through 
the woods toward his house. After a 
while the sound of his heavy footsteps 
died away. 

Everything in the thicket was per- 
fectly still. There was not a sound. 
Doctor Rabbit waited and listened. 
Then he heard a movement inside the 
thicket. Presently Mrs. Brushtail came 
out, sat down, and looked in the direction 
Farmer Roe had taken. While she sat 
there Mr. Brushtail came trotting up 
from somewhere out in the woods. Doc- 
tor Rabbit heard the two talking very 
rapidly and excitedly, but they talked 
so low he could not understand what 
they said. He wanted very much to 
know what they said, but what inter- 
ested him still more was that he again 


54 DOCTOR RABBIT 

heard those growls in the thicket. He 
wondered who it could be, since neither 
Brushtail nor Mrs. Brushtail was in 
there now. 

Well, after Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail 
had talked for a while, Brushtail went 
right up to the old dead log where 
Farmer Roe had placed some of the 
cheese. Doctor Rabbit was delighted, 
for he thought this would be the end 
of Brushtail the Fox. And we can't 
blame Doctor Rabbit or think him cruel, 
either, for hoping so. You see. Doctor 
Rabbit, being a doctor, knew at once 
that Farmer Roe had poisoned that 
cheese. Yes, sir, he had put poison in 
it for Mr. Fox. And if Mr. and Mrs. 
Brushtail should eat just one of those 
pieces of cheese it would certainly cause 
their death. 

But Doctor Rabbit was certainly 




4 



AVr^. Bru^hte^il up on the log 

*5miled ever so bro^^d^ at thi5 











AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 55 

surprised at what happened. Brushtail 
took the piece of cheese carefully in his 
mouth and carried it to a small hole a 
little distance away. Then he hunted 
around until he found every piece of 
poisoned cheese Farmer Roe had put 
out. And each time he found a piece of 
cheese he did just what he did with the 
first piece: he carried it to that hole 
and dropped it in. When he had fin- 
ished he stood and looked down at all 
those pieces of cheese. Then he began 
scratching leaves and dirt into the hole. 
Once in a while he would turn around 
and look down into the hole and laugh. 
Then he would turn his back again, and 
just make the leaves and dirt fly into 
that hole. 

Well, he scratched and scratched and 
scratched until there was not a bit of 
cheese anywhere to be seen. The hole 


56 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


was full of leaves and dirt, so you never 
could have found it. Mrs. Brushtail 
came out and smiled at Brushtail, and 
both of them looked at Farmer Roe's 
house and laughed and laughed. 

But Doctor Rabbit was not pleased. 
I should say he was n't pleased, and he 
wondered how these two terrible crea- 
tures would ever be driven away from 
the woods. And he wondered more 
than ever who it was that kept growling 
in the thicket. 


THE GROWLERS COME OUT OF 
THE THICKET 

After Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail had gone 
back into the thicket, Doctor Rabbit 
wanted to run home. He surely was 
uncomfortable so near to Brushtail and 
Mrs. Brushtail. 

‘‘And still,” he thought to himself, 
“since I am here. I’ll just stay a little 
longer and discover all I can.” 

Well, the growling went on for a 
while in the thicket, and then some- 
thing happened that certainly surprised 
Doctor Rabbit. Mrs. Brushtail came 
out into the open with Farmer Roe’s 
chicken, partly eaten, and she was fol- 
lowed by four little foxes! 

Mrs. Brushtail dropped the chicken 
on the ground for the little foxes, and 


58 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


then she sprang upon a log and just 
lay there and watched them. Mr. Fox 
trotted off into the woods again. 

‘‘He's probably going after another 
hen," thought Doctor Rabbit, “or 
after Stubby Woodchuck or Chatty Red 
Squirrel or any of us he can catch." 
And Doctor Rabbit hoped all his little 
friends would be on the lookout. 

While Mrs. Brushtail lay up on the 
log and looked on proudly, how the 
little foxes did pull at that dead chicken 
and growl! 

“And so there are the growlers I 
heard in the thicket!" Doctor Rabbit 
thought to himself. 

Those little foxes might have looked 
pretty to some people, they were so 
young and so playful and so funny; 
but they did not look pretty to Doctor 
Rabbit. Indeed they did not. They 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 59 

looked like four terrible monsters. Their 
little eyes snapped like the eyes of 
terrible little savages, and their tiny 
teeth, sharp as needles, pulled feathers 
and sank into the chicken. 

It was certainly true that Mrs. Brush- 
tail was teaching her very small children 
how to eat chicken, and as she lay on 
the log and watched them, she seemed 
perfectly satisfied with them. 

After the little foxes had growled and 
pulled at the chicken for a good while, 
Brushtail was seen coming through the 
woods with something in his mouth. 
Then suddenly Doctor Rabbit became 
almost sick with fear. He thought for 
a second that Brushtail had caught 
Stubby Woodchuck, but it proved to 
be no one but a large and ugly old 
woodrat that had lately grown so cross 
and savage that all the little creatures 


60 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


of the Big Green Woods were afraid 
of him. 

Doctor Rabbit was very glad indeed 
that it was that particular old woodrat, 
because he had really become dangerous. 

Brushtail dropped the woodrat down 
before the little foxes, and how they did 
did begin pulling and biting him! Mrs. 
Brushtail up on the log smiled ever so 
broadly at this. But it was not a pleas- 
ing smile to Doctor Rabbit, hiding in 
the briar patch. I should say not! 
It was a terrible smile. 

The next instant Yappy came tear- 
ing through the woods, right toward 
the thicket, and Doctor Rabbit had a 
moment of hope. But Mrs. Brushtail 
just uttered one quick, low growl, and 
every little fox scurried into the thicket. 
That time Doctor Rabbit had a good 
view of the inside of the thicket, and he 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 61 

saw what became of the foxes. They 
went into a hole under some rocks by a 
large papaw bush. ‘‘So that,” said 
Doctor Rabbit to himself, 'ds where 
Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail and their little 
Brushies have their den.” 

Brushtail did not run into the thicket 
with Mrs. Brushtail and the little foxes. 
When he saw Yappy coming toward 
the thicket he ran right toward the 
excited dog and then hid behind another 
thicket. When Yappy came near. Brush- 
tail sprang right out, and away he ran. 
Yappy bayed loudly, and away he went 
through the woods after Brushtail. You 
see now what Brushtail was doing — he 
was leading Yappy away from that den 
of little foxes! 


JACK RABBIT SPRAINS HIS FOOT 

When Mrs. Brushtail and the four 
little Brushies ran into the hole in the 
thicket and Father Brushtail ran away 
through the woods with Yappy in hot 
pursuit, Doctor Rabbit decided he had 
better be going. He had discovered a 
great deal anyway, and now he wanted 
to find some of his friends and tell them 
about it. 

Doctor Rabbit decided first to go 
over to the Wide Prairie and see his 
friend Jack Rabbit. Doctor Rabbit was 
not much afraid to cross the Wide 
Prairie, now that Ki-yi Coyote was 
gone and Brushtail the Fox was busy, 
for the time at least. 

Doctor Rabbit had not been over to 
see Jack Rabbit's family for a long 
62 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 63 

time, and he was considerably surprised 
to find Jack Rabbit laid up with a 
sprained foot. Jack Rabbit said he had 
sprained his foot the day before while 
running from some terrible creature that 
looked somewhat like Ki-yi Coyote and 
just a little like a dog, but not exactly 
like either of them. 

‘‘He had a large, bushy tail,'' Jack 
Rabbit explained, “and his coat was a 
reddish-brown color. He jumped out 
from behind some bunch grass and 
came at me so swiftly that I jumped 
and turned quickly. And that was how 
I sprained my foot. He certainly is a 
fierce and dangerous creature, and I 
wondered if any of the rest of you had 
seen him," Jack Rabbit concluded. 

“Indeed we have," Doctor Rabbit 
replied. “I'll bandage your foot now," 
he continued, “and then we can talk 


64 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


about this new enemy. Mrs. Jack Rab- 
bit/' Doctor Rabbit said looking at her 
over his gold glasses, “Til thank you 
for that bottle of chloroform liniment I 
left here some time ago." 

Mrs. Jack Rabbit brought out the 
bottle of liniment, and after Doctor 
Rabbit had bathed Jack Rabbit's foot 
with some of the liniment he bandaged 
it quite snugly. 

'‘That feels fine!" said Jack Rabbit, 
getting right up and standing on all 
four feet. “I'm so glad you came over. 
Doctor. That foot feels so good I know 
I can dance a little jig!" 

And Jack Rabbit started to dance a 
little, but he said, "Ouch!" right away, 
and everybody laughed, even Jack Rab- 
bit. His foot was not quite well enough " 
for dancing. 

Then Doctor Rabbit said, "I told 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 65 


you some of the rest of us had seen that 
same animal that chased you, Jack 
Rabbit. I am sure it was the same 
animal, from the way you describe him. 
It is Brushtail the Fox. He has just 
lately moved into the Big Green Woods, 
and intends to make his home there 
right along. What makes the matter 
worse for all of us is that not only has 
Mr. Brushtail come, but he has brought 
his whole family!'' 

‘‘Oh, dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Jack 
Rabbit. “I thought one of them was 
enough. But all of them — well, that 
makes it pretty serious for us." 

“But it might be worse," said Doctor 
Rabbit, who always sees the bright side 
of everything. “You see," he continued, 
“four of those foxes are so small that 
they are harmless. Besides, Farmer 
Roe and his boy are on the lookout for 


5 


66 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


that whole Fox family, and they may get 
rid of them in a very short time. I 
thought once,'' Doctor Rabbit contin- 
ued, ‘‘of letting Yappy run me right to 
that thicket where the Fox family lives. 
But if I did, Brushtail or Mrs. Brush- 
tail would surely be right there to lead 
Yappy away off into the woods. No, if 
Farmer Roe or his boy doesn't stumble 
onto their den. I'll have to think up 
some way myself to get rid of that Fox 
family. I'll bring my imagination into 
play," said Doctor Rabbit smilingly, 
and somewhat proudly, too. 

“What does ‘magination' mean, sir?" 
little Billy Rabbit asked wonderingly. 

“It means," said Doctor Rabbit, 
“that you must think and think and 
think until you think out something 
quite new." 

Then Doctor Rabbit patted all the 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 67 

little rabbits on the head, except Billy 
Rabbit whom he chucked under the 
chin, as he bade them all a very pleas- 
ant good morning. 

''Keep a sharp lookout, and don't 
worry," Doctor Rabbit said with a 
smile as he left. "If Farmer Roe does 
not get rid of that Fox family. I'll think 
out some way myself." 

And he ran like a gray streak back 
across the Wide Prairie toward the Big 
Green Woods. 


DOCTORING LITTLE THOMAS 
WOODCHUCK 

The next morning quite early Doctor 
Rabbit received a call to visit a new 
Woodchuck family that had recently 
moved into the north part of the Big 
Green Woods. Doctor Rabbit told 
Father Woodchuck, who came over after 
him, that he would be along in a very 
few moments. Then he shut the door 
and began to get ready. 

Doctor Rabbit always dressed with 
especial care when he was called to a 
new family. He got out his silk hat 
and brushed it carefully. He curled 
his mustache until it looked just right. 
Then he put on his finest pair of gold 
glasses, which he kept laid away for 
such occasions. 


68 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 69 


He looked very handsome, I can tell 
you, in his new blue coat, his bright 
red trousers, and his finest pair of soft 
white shoes. He surely did. 

Doctor Rabbit was ready. He picked 
up his best medicine case, filled with 
the finest of medicines, and started 
toward the home of the new family 
of Woodchucks. 

When Doctor Rabbit reached the place 
he found it was one of the youngsters 
who was sick. In fact, it was Thomas 
Woodchuck, the pet of the family. His 
name was not just Tommy; it was 
Thomas, and everybody called him that. 
Doctor Rabbit sat down by the bed 
and said, ‘‘Let me see your tongue, 
Thomas.'’ You see. Doctor Rabbit had 
asked what Thomas' name was. He 
always did this. It helped the children 
not to feel afraid of him. 


70 DOCTOR RABBIT 

Little Thomas Woodchuck put out 
his tongue. 

'‘I see! I see! That will do, Thomas,'' 
said Doctor Rabbit cheerfully. ‘‘Your 
tongue is badly coated. Your pulse is 
pretty rapid, too." 

Then Doctor Rabbit thumped all 
around over little Thomas Woodchuck, 
just as the men doctors thump around 
over little boys and girls when they are 
sick. Only Doctor Rabbit did not have 
to thump so long. He could always 
find out in a hurry what was the trouble. 

Doctor Rabbit looked very wisely 
over his fine gold glasses at all the rest 
of the family who were standing about 
and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Woodchuck, 
your son has some stomach trouble from 
eating too many of those raw peanuts 
Farmer Roe has stored in his cob house!" 

Well, sir, that was exactly the truth. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 71 

They all wondered how Doctor Rabbit 
knew what Thomas had eaten. But 
Doctor Rabbit just had his eyes open, 
and put two and two together. He 
knew the peanuts were in Farmer Roe's 
cob house because he had taken a few 
of them himself now and then. And 
then he saw a lot of peanut hulls right 
under the cover of the bed where little 
Thomas Woodchuck lay. 

‘"Thomas," said Doctor Rabbit, laugh- 
ing, “you must not eat so many of those 
peanuts. Why, there will be none left 
for me!" 

Then little Thomas Woodchuck and 
the whole family laughed, and they all 
felt better. But Doctor Rabbit gave 
Thomas three big black pills and told him 
to swallow them all at once. Thomas 
did, and they were so bitter he tried to 
spit them out after he had swallowed 


72 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


them, but he could not do it, of course, 
and so they went right to work curing him. 

‘'You will be quite well tomorrow, 
Thomas,’' Doctor Rabbit said cheer- 
fully, and the whole Woodchuck family 
breathed easier. 

Then Mrs. Woodchuck said, “Doctor, 
I hear two terrible foxes have come into 
our woods.” 

Doctor Rabbit frowned at Mrs. Wood- 
chuck to make her keep still about the 
foxes near Thomas, for fear he might 
be frightened. He was always very 
careful about this when visiting his 
patients. “Well, I must be going. Good- 
bye, Thomas,” Doctor Rabbit said, just 
as if he had not heard Mrs. Woodchuck. 

Then when he was out in the kitchen 
he whispered very low to Father and 
Mother Woodchuck: “Yes, two terrible 
foxes have come into the Big Green 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 73 


Woods, but I did not want Thomas to 
hear. But don't you worry, Mrs. Wood- 
chuck," Doctor Rabbit went on, because 
he saw how troubled she looked, ‘‘don't 
you worry a bit, I thought of a scheme 
to get rid of Ki-yi Coyote and also of 
Tom Wildcat, and if Farmer Roe does 
not get rid of Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail, 
I will. Good morning!" And Doctor 
Rabbit slipped out of the door and was 
gone. 


LISTENING TO THE BRUSHTAILS 

It was a mighty good thing that 
Doctor Rabbit kept a sharp lookout 
on his way home from the Woodchuck 
house. If he had not been watching he 
might have run right into Mr. and Mrs. 
Brushtail, who stood talking behind a 
large elm tree. 

Doctor Rabbit heard them and saw 
them at the same time. He was so 
close that he was afraid even to run. 
So he crept noiselessly under a dense 
leafy thicket near at hand. Doctor 
Rabbit was pretty badly scared, because 
there was not a briar patch anywhere' 
near. So he did the safest thing. He 
crouched down on the ground, kept still, 
and listened. 

Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail, talking behind 

74 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 75 


the tree, never dreamed, of course, that 
there was anybody close by listening. 
They talked pretty softly, but Doctor 
Rabbit was so near that he could hear 
every word they said. Brushtail was 
talking. ‘‘Yes,'' he said, “that dog has 
a very sharp nose, and he is bound to 
find our den sooner or later. So I 
think, Mrs. Fox, we had better move 
you and the children clear out of these 
woods. I'll take you to a new den in 
the woods away off up the river. There 
is not much in the way of rabbits and 
woodchucks and chickens up there, but 
I'll keep on spending most of my time 
down here. You see, I can catch the 
rabbits and woodchucks and chickens, 
and carry them up to you." 

“Very well, dear," said Mrs. Brush- 
tail, “I think that is an excellent plan. 
When shall we move?" 


76 DOCTOR RABBIT 

''This very day/' Brushtail said. 
"We'll get the young foxes right away 
and start off with them. The sooner 
we get them out of here, the better it 
will be for all of us." 

Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail trotted off 
toward the thicket in which they had 
their den. Doctor Rabbit was still a 
little scared, but he believed he would 
follow at a distance and see for himself 
whether Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail actu- 
ally did move the little foxes. 

Mr. and Mrs. Brushtail went into the 
thicket, and in a very short time came 
out again. And sure enough, each of 
them carried a little fox by the back 
of its neck. 

They walked across the. shallow Mur- 
muring Brook and laid the two little 
Brushies down on the other side in a 
thicket. Then they came back and 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 77 


carried the other two little Brushies 
over in the same way. 

As they went past him this last time 
Doctor Rabbit heard Brushtail say to 
Mrs. Brushtail, '‘You can just wait with 
them in the thicket on the other side of 
Murmuring Brook until I carry two of 
them up the river to the new den. 
When I come back we can carry the 
other two.'' 

You see, foxes can carry their baby 
foxes by the back of the neck and not 
hurt them at all. 

Well, Doctor Rabbit was glad and 
hungry at the same time. He now 
hurried right over to the nice, tender blue 
grass under the big sycamore tree. There 
he found Chatty Red Squirrel, Cheepy 
Chipmunk, and quite a number of his 
other friends, who all wanted to know 
at once if Doctor Rabbit had found 


78 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


out anything more about Mr. Fox. 
Doctor Rabbit did know a great deal, 
as you know, and he told his friends 
he would tell them. But he added that 
he was so hungry he would have to eat 
while he talked. Doctor Rabbit is a 
great person to eat grass, anyway. 

''It seems as though I never can get 
enough!'' he said every now and then. 


DOCTOR RABBIT TELLS SOME 
GOOD NEWS 

Chatty Red Squirrel, Cheepy Chip- 
munk, and all the rest of Doctor Rabbet's 
friends who were gathered under the 
big sycamore tree were certainly very 
happy when Doctor Rabbit told them 
that Mrs. Brushtail and all the little 
Brushies were leaving the Big Green 
Woods for good. 

‘'As the matter stands now,'' Doctor 
Rabbit said, “we've nobody but Brush- 
tail to look out for. But he's surely 
enough! I should say he is! And if 
Farmer Roe does not get him soon. 
I'm going to keep right on thinking of 
some plan to get him out of here.' We 
can't scare him as we did Tom Wildcat. 
Brushtail is too cunning for that. He'd 


79 


80 DOCTOR RABBIT 

just laugh at us if we painted signs and 
put them up on our doors, no matter 
what was painted on the signs. I 
heard Brushtail tell Mrs. Brushtail that 
he would not live in that thicket any 
more. He said he would get himself 
a new den not far off and probably a 
little nearer to the Murmuring Brook. 
So you see we could not lead Yappy to 
Brushtail now if we wanted to. And 
I am afraid Yappy will be a good while 
in finding Brushtaiks new den. I may 
find it,'' Doctor Rabbit continued, '‘but 
I'd never risk trying to lead Yappy to 
it, and Jack Rabbit has a sprained foot, 
so he can't. But from the way he 
talked to me, I don't think he'd be will- 
ing to try it even if his foot weren't 
sprained." 

"Possibly," suggested Chatty Red 
Squirrel, "Brushtail will not have a 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 81 

fallen tree near his new den, nor any 
other way of making Yappy lose the 
trail. And possibly Yappy will smell 
along old BrushtaiFs trail and find him 
right in his den.” 

‘'Don't you ever think Brushtail will 
be foolish enough to walk straight along 
the ground to his den,” said Doctor 
Rabbit. “He's far too wise for that, no 
matter where his den is. No, sir, he 
will make big jumps sidewise and walk 
back on his trail and walk in big circles, 
and better still, walk for a distance in 
the Murmuring Brook. Ah! he'll do a 
whole lot of things before he goes into 
his den. Of course,” Doctor Rabbit 
said softly, “it is possible Farmer Roe 
may trap old Brushtail. I saw him 
working with a trap only this morning.” 


6 


A FOOLISH OLD HEN 

Several days after Doctor Rabbit had 
talked to his friends under the big syca- 
more tree he was hopping along near 
the edge of the Big Green Woods when 
he saw Brushtail the Fox hiding behind 
a tree and looking toward Farmer Roe’s 
house. 

Doctor Rabbit crept under a big brush 
pile and looked in the same direction. 
What do you suppose Brushtail was 
watching? Well, he was looking at a 
big Plymouth Rock hen coming across 
the field right toward the place where 
he lay hidden. 

Now, if Doctor Rabbit had had some- 
thing better than a brush pile to hide 
under, he might Lave made some sort 
of noise and warned the hen. But if 
82 



8rux5hta.il the Fox 


x5eized. her 
the neck 












BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 83 

he had made the least sound, Brushtail 
would have come diving under that 
brush pile in a second, for he isn't afraid 
of brush piles as he is of briar patches. 

Pretty soon the hen reached the woods. 
She stretched up her neck and looked 
around, but not seeing anything she 
started into the woods for some crickets. 
She had gone only a few steps when 
Brushtail the Fox bounded out, seized 
her by the neck, and ran off through 
the Big Green Woods. 

Doctor Rabbit followed along behind, 
going hoppity, hoppity, hoppity, and 
presently he saw Brushtail splashing 
along in the Murmuring Brook. He 
was trotting along in the brook for a 
distance, for, you see, a hound cannot 
smell a fox's tracks in the water; and 
so Yappy could not track him. 

Doctor Rabbit stopped and looked. 


84 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


He saw Brushtail finally cross to the 
other side of the Murmuring Brook. 
Brushtail then turned and looked back 
to see if anybody was following him. 
He did not see anyone, so, still holding 
the dead hen in his mouth, he trotted 
out of sight among the trees. 

Of course Doctor Rabbit knew what 
Brushtail was going to do. He was 
going to take that hen up the river to 
Mrs. Brushtail and the little Brushies. 

When Brushtail had passed out of 
sight. Doctor Rabbit did not go home at 
once. No, he sat down to think. He 
was trying to think out a way to drive 
old Brushtail out of the Big Green 
Woods. He sat there and thought ever 
and ever so long. Sometimes he thought 
so hard he scratched his head without 
knowing it. At other times he curled 
his mustache. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 85 


So he thought and thought, but after 
a long time he said he would have to give 
it up for this time. He was not dis- 
couraged, for he could tell from the 
various things he had thought of that 
something would turn up after a while 
to help him work out a plan that would 
get rid of Brushtail the Fox. That was 
one fine thing about Doctor Rabbit — he 
would not give up. He kept right on 
trying. 

Well, for the next two days Doctor 
Rabbit was busy doctoring the little 
Chipmunk children. They had got into 
Farmer Roe's apple orchard and had 
eaten a lot of green apples, in spite of the 
fact that Mother Chipmunk had told 
Jimmy Chipmunk, her oldest, that he 
and the rest of the children should not 
eat green apples. 


DOCTOR RABBIT LAYS A TRAP 

The day after Doctor Rabbit cured 
the little Chipmunk children, he thought 
of a new plan for catching Brushtail the 
Fox, and he decided to try it at once. 

Doctor Rabbit knew very well that 
somehow he must drive Brushtail out 
of the Big Green Woods. None of the 
little creatures would be safe for a 
moment until this was done. Yes, cruel, 
sly old Brushtail must be driven away, 
and everything depended on our clever 
Doctor Rabbit. 

As Doctor Rabbit started hopping 
along through the woods he said quietly 
to himself, ‘‘Of course this scheme I 
have in mind may not work. But it 
is worth trying an3rway. I won't tell 
any of my friends about it, and then if 


86 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 87 

I don't catch Brushtail they won't be 
disappointed. But if I do catch him!" 

Right here Doctor Rabbit stopped and 
laughed and laughed. ‘‘My," he con- 
tinued, “if I do catch him, won't 
Stubby Woodchuck and Cheepy Chip- 
munk and all the others be surprised! 
Well, I should say they will be sur- 
prised!" 

And Doctor Rabbit went hopping 
along, chuckling to himself and feeling 
mighty fine. He is always happy when 
he has thought of a plan to get rid of 
some big, cruel animal. 

Doctor Rabbit kept going until he 
came to a part of the Big Green Woods 
where the Murmuring Brook was widest 
and deepest. He knew just what he 
was looking for, too. You see. Farmer 
Roe's boy had been setting his fishing 
lines here every night. Each morning 


88 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


he would pull his lines out of the water, 
take the fish off, and then leave one or 
two of the lines lying on the bank until 
evening. 

Doctor Rabbit wanted one of these 
fishing lines, and when he reached the 
place, sure enough, there was a long, 
stout fishing line lying right on the 
ground. There were some hooks on the 
end of the line, but Doctor Rabbit did 
not want these, so with his sharp teeth 
he cut them off. Then he picked up 
the line and took it some distance away 
to a big thicket. Here Doctor Rabbit 
began making a loop in one end of that 
fishing line and chuckling as he worked. 

Well, in just a little while he had that 
loop all fixed. Then he spread out the 
loop, which was made so it would slip, 
on a nice patch of open ground near 
the thicket. The other end of the line 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 89 

he hid in the thicket. Then he went 
over to the edge of the Murmuring 
Brook. He moved along the edge of 
the brook and watched ever so carefully. 
Now what do you suppose Doctor Rab- 
bit was looking for this time? Well, sir, 
he was looking for a live fish. He saw 
several and made a grab for them, but 
they all got away. But Doctor Rabbit 
is very patient, and presently he seized a 
nice one and carried it, wiggling in his 
mouth, back to the loop he had made 
in that line. He dropped the small fish 
in the center of the loop. The fish 
did n't jump much now; it only wiggled 
and flapped its tail a little, and that 
was just what Doctor Rabbit wanted 
it to do. 

He ran into the thicket where the 
other end of the line was and waited 
for Brushtail the Fox to come along. 


90 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


As Doctor Rabbit waited and listened 
he heard footsteps approaching. He 
peeped out to see who it was. It was n't 
Brushtail at all; it was Ray Coon. 
And my, you should have seen Mr. 
Coon run for that fish when he saw it! 

‘‘ Hurrah 1 " Ray Coon shouted. ‘‘ Some 
one has lost a fish. Here's my breakfast 
right here!" 

And he was just about to pounce upon 
the fish when he was almost scared out 
of his wits by Doctor Rabbit calling 
out, '‘Boo! Let that fish alone. Neigh- 
bor! I put it there to catch Brushtail 
the Fox! Come here, into the thicket." 

And so Ray Coon, looking rather fool- 
ish, went into the thicket where Doctor 
Rabbit was hiding. 

"Keep right still!" Doctor Rabbit 
whispered to his friend. "I was going 
to try to catch old Brushtail all by my- 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 91 

self/' he continued, “but now that you 
have happened along you'd better stay, 
for I may need some help." 

“How are you going to catch him. 
Doctor Rabbit?" Ray Coon asked. And 
Doctor Rabbit just pointed one foot 
out toward the loop and the squirming 
fish. Then Ray Coon understood, and 
how he did chuckle! He was just as 
much amused as was Doctor Rabbit and 
they both laughed and laughed, but 
they had to be very quiet, of course, 
because at any minute Brushtail might 
come along. 

Suddenly Doctor Rabbit peeked out 
and whispered, “Sh! sh! Keep as still 
as anything! There comes old Brushy 
now. And yes, he's coming this way!" 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX IS ALMOST 
CAUGHT 

Doctor Rabbit and Ray Coon kept 
perfectly quiet in the thicket and watched 
Brushtail the Fox as he came creeping 
along. When he saw the fish lying in 
that loop, my, how wide BrushtaiFs 
eyes did open! The fish jumped and 
squirmed just enough to make Brushtail 
want it very badly. He was so delighted 
that he stood up on his hind legs and 
danced toward the fish. 

Ha 1 ha ! he laughed. It was prob- 
ably old Bald Eagle who flew over the 
woods and dropped his fish! Ha! ha! 
ha! ThaUs luck for me — a fine fish 
for breakfast. And I did not have to 
get my feet wet to catch it.'' Then 
Brushtail began to sing: 


92 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 93 


‘‘Great flying Bald Eagle caught a flsh, 

And flew away to eat him; 

But down it fell through green treetops, 
And Brushy Fox will cheat him!'' 

Brushtail finished his song and jumped 
for the fish. He jumped, of course, 
right into that loop Doctor Rabbit had 
made in the stout fishing cord. Well, 
sir, just as soon as Brushtail's feet 
touched the ground inside that loop. 
Doctor Rabbit and Ray Coon jerked 
the line as quickly and as firmly as they 
could. The loop slipped up and caught 
Brushtail around the body. My, but 
he was surprised and scared! I should 
say he was! He forgot the fish instantly, 
and he yelled ever so loud, “Let me go," 
although he did not know, of course, 
just what it was that had caught him. 

The way he yelled and started pulling 


94 DOCTOR RABBIT 

to get away was so funny that Doctor 
Rabbit and Ray Coon laughed until 
they could scarcely hold the line. 

They wrapped the line around their 
paws and held on as hard as ever they 
could. And my, how Brushtail did dig 
his claws into the ground and pull! 

When he found he couldn’t free himself 
he was more frightened than ever and 
shouted (because, you see, he could not 
see what held him), ‘'You let go of me, 
you old ghost, or goblin man! You let 
go of me or I’ll claw you to pieces! 
Let go of me or I ’ll come back there and 
pull all your hair out, and I’ll throw 
you in the briars so far you’ll never 
get out and they will stick you forever!” 

And all the time Brushtail was talk- 
ing this he was digging his claws into 
the ground and pulling with all his might. 

Doctor Rabbit could not have held 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 95 

him alone, but Ray Coon is pretty plump 
and stout, and he helped a great deal. 
But Brushtail pulled so hard that he 
pulled them right out of the thicket 
before they knew it! 

Doctor Rabbit was so anxious to hold 
Brushtail that he cried right out, ''Hold 
him, Ray Coon! Hold on to him! Hold 
on to him!'' 

Then Doctor Rabbit saw his mistake, 
for when Brushtail the Fox heard that 
voice he stopped pulling and turned 
around quickly. When he turned toward 
them, Ray Coon seized the fish, and he 
and Doctor Rabbit ran for their lives. 
And Brushtail was close behind them. 

Doctor Rabbit skipped away as easily 
as could be, and Ray Coon, with the 
fish in his mouth, started up a tree. 
Brushtail ran for Ray Coon and gave a 
big spring for him. He almost got him. 


96 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


too, for he bit him on the hind foot. 
But Ray Coon managed to get up on a 
limb just out of reach. Brushtail was 
so angry at losing the fish and being 
completely fooled that he jumped several 
times as high as he could, but he could 
not jump quite high enough. So Ray 
Coon just sat there and ate that fish 
right before Brushtail’s eyes. 

‘‘This is an extra good fish,'’ Ray Coon 
called down, as he gobbled it up. “It's 
extra good. Brushy. But you did n't 
want it anyway, did you? Ha! ha! ha!" 

Then old Brushtail was angrier than 
before. He pulled the loop off of his 
body with his teeth and snarled, “All 
right for this time — you and that big 
fat rabbit fooled me. He 's pretty clever, 
but he'll not fool me again. And the 
next time I'll get both of you. I'll 
eat rabbit and coon both at one meal. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 97 

In about three days I 'll get both of you!" 
And with an angry growl old Brush- 
tail the Fox went off into the woods. 

After a while Doctor Rabbit ventured 
out of his hiding place and hopped over 
to the tree which Ray Coon had climbed. 

‘'Brushtail has gone off toward the 
Murmuring Brook," Doctor Rabbit said. 
‘'Come on down and let me doctor your 
foot where he bit you. I see it's bleed- 
ing a little." 

Ray Coon came right down and 
laughed as he said, “My foot is n't hurt 
much. Doctor, and it will soon be well 
if you put some of your yellow salve 
on it." 

“Of course it will," Doctor Rabbit 
agreed, as he took some salve from his 
medicine case. 

He bandaged Ray's foot in a few 
minutes. But all the time that he was 


7 


98 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


bandaging it, he kept a sharp lookout 
for Brushtail. 

‘'He's very sly," Doctor Rabbit said, 
“and I am certain that right this minute 
he is planning some scheme to catch us 
or some of our friends." 

“That's so," Ray Coon replied, look- 
ing at the bushes around him somewhat 
nervously. “I do wish," he continued, 
“that we could think of some plan to 
get rid of him for good. Then we 
could live happily and have our fun as 
we used to do." 

“Don't you worry. Neighbor Coon," 
Doctor Rabbit chuckled as he picked 
up his medicine case and looked at Ray 
Coon over his big glasses. “Don't you 
worry," he repeated, “I'll have a plan 
all in good time, and right now I'm 
going in the direction he went, to see 
what he is up to!" 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 99 


Ray Coon seemed a little nervous 
again as he said, “Well, do be careful, 
whatever you do. Doctor, because he 
looked terribly cruel, you remember/’ 
“Ha! ha! ha!” jolly Doctor Rabbit 
laughed as he started away, waving a 
paw at Ray Coon, “ I ’ll take care of my- 
self — never fear. And I’ll take care of 
old Brushy Fox, too! Ha! ha! ha! 
Yes, I ’ll see what he’s doing now. 
Perhaps I shall catch him right away.” 
And Doctor Rabbit slipped away in 
the direction in which Brushtail had 
gone. 


AN EXCITING CHASE 

You remember that Doctor Rabbit 
started out to find Brushtail the Fox 
and watch him. Well, it was not long 
before Brushtail was found, and it cer- 
tainly was exciting for Doctor Rabbit 
to watch what happened. This is the 
way it happened. It was Yappy who 
found Brushtail. Doctor Rabbit was 
hopping along, looking for Brushtail, 
when Yappy came tearing through the 
woods and almost ran into Brushtail. 

You see, Brushtail saw Yappy com- 
ing, but he thought Yappy would pass 
by because he had not as yet smelled 
the trail. These things Brushtail always 
knows. But Yappy passed so close he 
smelled fox, and then Brushtail cer- 
tainly did have to jump and run. 


100 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 101 


Doctor Rabbit just sprang up on the 
trunk of a fallen tree to watch the race. 
All of a sudden he saw Farmer Roe and 
his boy running toward Yappy, and with 
them was another big dog which joined 
in the chase after Brushtail. 

“It’s a fox! a fox! It’s that old fox!’’ 
shouted Farmer Roe’s boy. “Catch him, 
Yappy! Catch him! catch him!” The 
second big hound turned Brushtail back 
so that he almost ran into Farmer Roe 
before he saw him. 

Farmer Roe threw a stick at Brush- 
tail but missed him. 

“Catch him, Yappy, catch him!” 
shouted Farmer Roe. “He’ll steal all 
my hens if you don’t.” 

Away they all ran after Brushtail the 
Fox— Farmer Roe and his boy yelling, 
and both hounds barking. 

“My!” exclaimed Doctor Rabbit as 


102 DOCTOR RABBIT 

he sat on the fallen tree, “I certainly 
do hope they’ll catch him!” 

And just at that moment it looked 
as if they would catch Brushtail. He 
was in such a great hurry that in trying 
to jump across a wide ditch in the woods 
he fell right into it. And Yappy was 
almost upon him. 

“Yappy’s got him!” shouted Farmer 
Roe’s boy. “Yappy’s got him!” 

But Brushtail was not to be caught 
so easily. He sprang out of that hole 
in a flash, and away he ran like the wind. 

As Doctor Rabbit watched, Brushtail 
ran out of sight in the woods, and the 
barking of the hounds and the voices 
of Farmer Roe and his boy sounded 
farther and farther away. Doctor Rab- 
bit sat and waited, for he thought they 
might turn Brushtail back and run him 
past the fallen tree. But after a while 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX103 

they seemed farther away than ever, 
and he could just barely hear Yappy 
barking on the trail. Doctor Rabbit 
just sat still and waited. He knew that 
Brushtail the Fox was one of the slyest 
creatures in the woods, and he was 
pretty sure now that he would get away 
for this time at least. 

“I should not be surprised if he came 
sneaking back right around here. And 
still,” Doctor Rabbit said hopefully, 
“Yappy may get him. I’ll just wait 
for a time and see what does happen.” 

Several times as Doctor Rabbit sat 
there he heard a noise in the bushes 
near by and each time he looked quickly 
in that direction. But it must have 
been the wind blowing the leaves, for 
he did not see anything. 

Once, however. Doctor Rabbit was 
really startled. A big woodrat ran 


104 DOCTOR RABBIT 


through some dead leaves and made a 
good deal of noise. He stopped and 
looked at Doctor Rabbit and asked, 
“Are you waiting for some one?'' 

“Yes," Doctor Rabbit replied, “I'm 
waiting for Brushtail the Fox; I'm 
expecting him any time." 

“Brushtail the Fox!" exclaimed the 
Woodrat. “Well, Fm not going to wait 
for him!" And he hurried away as fast 
as he could. 

Then Doctor Rabbit heard another 
noise. Some creature was creeping 
through the bushes not far off. He 
was coming nearer, too. 


THE BIG GRAY GOOSE GETS 
AWAY 

Doctor Rabbit sat on the trunk of the 
fallen tree and never moved a muscle as 
he listened to the animal creeping through 
the thicket. Every now and then it 
would stop, and there was not a sound; 
then it would move again, and all the 
time it kept coming nearer and nearer. 

Doctor Rabbit has a way of twitching 
his nose most of the time, but as he sat 
there he did not even move his nose. 
No, sir! He was as still as the tree trunk 
on which he sat. He kept his eyes 
right on the place from which the sounds 
of the creeping animal came. 

And then his heart gave a thump and 
beat very fast — for out of the thicket 
came old Brushtail himself! He looked 


105 


106 DOCTOR RABBIT 

all about carefully, and then sat down 
panting, tired out from his long run. 

But after he was somewhat rested, 
Brushtail got up and grinned. He looked 
out in the woods in the direction where 
Yappy and the other hound were still 
running and barking. 

'‘Ha! ha! ha!'' Brushtail chuckled 
softly. "They've lost my trail. I knew 
they would when I walked down the 
Murmuring Brook. Well," he contin- 
ued, "I'll just look around a bit for 
something to eat. Perhaps I can find 
that big fat rabbit." 

It happened that Brushtail started 
right for the fallen tree where Doctor 
Rabbit sat, and Doctor Rabbit was 
just about to spring off and run when 
something else happened. Farmer Roe's 
big gray goose came near. She was 
eating some tender green grass blades 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX107 

and never dreamed that a fox was near. 
But Brushtail saw her and started creep- 
ing toward her. 

Doctor Rabbit could not bear to see 
that big gray goose gobbled up, so he 
shouted as loud as he could, '‘Look 
out. Gray Goose! Brushtail the Fox 
is going to get you! He's coming! 
He's coming!" 

Now, as you may know, a tame goose 
cannot fly very far, but many of them 
can fly a short distance, and fly fairly 
high too. The gray goose was terribly 
frightened, and instantly began flap- 
ping her great wings. She flew just 
high enough in the air so that Brushtail 
missed him when he sprang. If the 
Murmuring Brook had not been near, 
that gray goose would surely have been 
caught, because, as I have said, she 
cannot fly very far; but as it was she 


108 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


managed to fly across the brook. Then 
she came to the ground again and ran 
screaming and flapping her wings toward 
Farmer Roe’s. She got out of the woods 
in a few moments and Brushtail the Fox 
did not catch her. 

Now when Doctor Rabbit shouted, 
Brushtail turned quickly and saw him, 
but knowing that he could not catch 
both of them, he sprang for the gray 
goose. But Brushtail did not swim 
across Murmuring Brook. He knew it 
would take him too long, and he saw 
that he could not catch the gray goose 
after all. So he turned from the edge 
of the brook and started back after 
Doctor Rabbit. 

My, but Brushtail was angry at Doctor 
Rabbit! 

‘‘ It was that big fat rabbit that made 
me miss my dinner!” snarled Brushtail. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX109 

''I saw him sitting on that fallen tree. 
It was he who warned that silly goose!'' 

And Brushtail ran swiftly to the fallen 
tree, and darted quickly all around it. 
He sprang into the near-by thickets and 
charged under some small brush piles. 
In fact, he raced around and hunted in 
every spot where he thought Doctor 
Rabbit might be hiding, and all the 
time he kept up an angry growl. 

I 'll get him; I 'll get him," Brushtail 
kept snarling. ‘Til get that big fat 
rabbit if it takes me a week!" 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX FINDS 
THE TRAPS 

A few days after Doctor Rabbit had 
helped Farmer Roe's big gray goose to 
escape from Brushtail the Fox, Doctor 
Rabbit saw something that interested 
him greatly. Farmer Roe was working 
at something out in the woods. There 
was a briar patch near by, so Doctor 
Rabbit crept into this and watched. 

Yes, sir! Farmer Roe was actually 
setting a trap, or rather, he was setting 
four traps. And he was surely arranging 
things so that if Brushtail could ever be 
fooled at all he could be fooled here, or 
so it seemed, at least. Farmer Roe had 
chosen a low place in the woods, full of 
the finest white sand. He staked the 
traps and set them in the sand, and 


no 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 111 

covered them all over with sand so that 
they could not be seen. Then he dragged 
an old cow's head right in the center of 
the four traps. 

Now, you see, it looked just as if some 
animal had been eating the cow's head 
and had left it right in that nice fine 
white sand. And if Mr. Fox should 
happen along, it looked as if he might 
try to go right up to that head. Then 
he would be sure to step into one of those 
traps! 

Well, all the rest of that day and most 
of the night Doctor Rabbit watched 
those traps and that cow's head. At 
last, far along in the night, he heard a 
noise in the bushes close by. The moon 
shone very brightly through the trees, 
and on that patch of white sand and 
the cow's head. A dark form came 
slipping out of the shadows and kept 


112 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


coming nearer. Pretty soon Doctor Rab- 
bit saw who it was. It was Brushtail 
the Fox. 

Brushtail sniffed toward the cow’s 
head and said, ‘'Well, well, fresh beef! 
This is pretty fine!” And he began 
walking around and around that cow’s 
head. But he seemed a little suspicious, 
for he did not walk right up to the 
head. Still, he kept getting closer and 
closer. And then, all of a sudden, he 
stumbled over something. 

“Hello! What’s this!” Brushtail ex- 
claimed. He dug around a little in the 
sand, then said, “Oho, I see! It’s a 
stake I stumbled over, and here is a 
chain and — why sure enough! There’s 
a trap fastened to the chain. Ha! ha! 
ha! No beef to-night, thank you! I’ll 
just wait. Perhaps some foolish animal 
will drag that head away and hide it. 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE F0X113 


Then Til just help myself. Sooner or 
later I’ll get that head!” And Brush- 
tail trotted away. 

But he did not go far until he stopped 
and sniffed again in the direction of the 
cow’s head. 

‘‘My!” exclaimed Brushtail, “That 
meat certainly does smell good, so good 
that I am almost tempted to go back 
and try to get it. But I’m afraid. I’ll 
just wait as I said. And I’ll get that 
cow’s head as sure as anything.” 

And laughing to himself because he 
believed he was so clever, Brushtail stole 
away into the woods. 



^ Well, Brushtail is clever, but some one 
r else was just a bit cleverer, and that was 
Doctor Rabbit. 


GETTING TOGETHER 
Of course Doctor Rabbit was greatly 
disappointed when Brushtail the Fox 
discovered that there was a trap set 
in the sand, because he had thought 
surely Brushtail would be caught. Then, 
after Brushtail had gone away. Doctor 
Rabbit suddenly thought of something. 
Yes, sir! It came to him in an instant — 
a plan to get rid of Brushtail the Fox! 
And the plan was suggested to Doctor 
Rabbit by BrushtaiFs remark, ‘‘Per- 
haps some foolish animal will drag that 
head away and hide it. Then Til just 
help myself.'’ 

Well, as soon as it was daylight. 
Doctor Rabbit hurried right over' to 
Jack Rabbit's, told him what his plan 
was, and brought Jack Rabbit back with 

114 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 115 


him. Then Doctor Rabbit hurried 
around through the Big Green Woods 
telling his friends. He told Stubby 
Woodchuck, Cheepy Chipmunk, Chatty 
Red Squirrel, Frisky Grey Squirrel, 
Robin-the-Red, O. Possum, busy Blue 
Jay, Jim Crow, and quite a number of 
others. He asked them all to come 
about the middle of the forenoon to 
the place where Farmer Roe had placed 
the cow's head, as he would need every 
one of them at about that time. 

Immediately Doctor Rabbit and Jack 
Rabbit hurried away toward Farmer 
Roe's back lot. They squeezed under 
a board fence and began looking for 
something. 

‘'Here it is!" Doctor Rabbit said, 
picking up a stout piece of rope that 
had been part of a clothes-line. 

“I knew it was in here somewhere," 


116 DOCTOR RABBIT 

Jack Rabbit said, ‘‘for I saw it just 
yesterday/’ 

'‘Now,” said Doctor Rabbit, “let’s 
go back to the woods and find that 
slim hickory tree that has a grapevine 
hanging from the top.” 

They ran into the woods, and after a 
little search found the hickory. They 
hid the rope they had found and hurried 
over to the cow’s head in the sand. 
There they found all the other little 
creatures. After a great deal of very 
careful work. Doctor Rabbit, Jack Rab- 
bit, and O. Possum managed to get the 
cow’s head outside the circle of traps. 
Then every one of Doctor Rabbit’s 
friends helped to pull and push the cow’s 
head. It was a queer procession! 

After quite a while they succeeded in 
pushing and pulling the cow’s head to 
the slim hickory tree. Doctor Rabbit 





I 


It wa.3 01. crueer procession; 

















« 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 117 


told them now to push it into a near-by 
thicket, and they did. 

Fat O. Possum exclaimed, '‘Whew, 
Tm tired. Now let’s eat the head!” 

Everybody but O. Possum laughed at 
that, and Doctor Rabbit said, "No, 
Brother Possum, not just yet, but you 
are helping wonderfully, and tomorrow 
morning I think you can have this 
head all to yourself. I think we’ll be 
rid of Brushtail the Fox by that time.” 

Doctor Rabbit now grabbed hold of 
the grapevine that hung from the top 
of the hickory, and he and all his friends 
pulled and pulled until they bent the 
top of the hickory down to the thicket. 
Then, while his friends held the tree- 
top down. Doctor Rabbit made a snare 
or loop of the rope he had found, and 
arranged it in the thicket so that if 
Brushtail got to the cow’s head he 


118 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


would have to step through the snare, 
or slip noose. Finally, Doctor Rabbit 
tied the tree rather loosely to a small 
twig of the thicket and told his friends 
to step back carefully, because the least 
thing would make the tree fly up as it 
was before and take that snare wjth it. 


BRUSHTAIL THE FOX DISCOVERS 
THE COW^S HEAD 
Doctor Rabbit and all his friends 
stood back and watched to see whether 
the tree would fly back, but it did not. 
It held as Arm and quiet as could be. 

''Now,’’ said Doctor Rabbit, "old 
Brushy will come back to where that 
head was, and, seeing it gone, he will 
naturally think that O. Possum or some- 
body has dragged it away. So Brush- 
tail will smell along the ground where 
we have dragged the head, and he will 
finally find it right here. I have hidden 
the noose in the thicket so that Mister 
Fox will not notice it, and he’ll walk 
right in to get that head. In doing so, 
he’ll put his head through that noose 
and pull on it, trying to get to the head. 

119 


120 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


Well, when Mr. Brushtail pulls, he'll 
break that slender twig that holds the 
tree down, because that twig is about 
ready to break as it is. Then we'll 
see what'll happen!" 

‘'Let's hurry away iiow," Doctor Rab- 
bit added. “If foxy Brushtail happened 
to see all of us here at once he might 
become suspicious. I 'll come back soon 
and watch, and if anything happens 
I'll let all of you know at once." 

So away went Stubby Woodchuck and 
O. Possum and all the others, talking 
quietly yet excitedly, and now and then 
laughing a little. They said they hoped 
Brushtail would come soon, and they 
also said that something just told them 
away down deep in their hearts that 
Brushtail was surely going to be caught 
this time. And all that day they could 
scarcely eat, they were so eager to know 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 121 

whether Bmshtail would get caught in 
that noose in the thicket. 

Doctor Rabbit hid not far from the 
cow's head and waited all day. Then 
he went to supper and came quickly 
back. Pretty soon night came, and 
the big round moon came up. Along 
about midnight Doctor Rabbit heard a 
sound . Pit-a-pat ! pit-a-pat ! pit-a-pat ! 
Some one was coming along slowly 
through the woods! Then, as the form 
came nearer. Doctor Rabbit saw Brush- 
tail the Fox trotting along with his 
sharp nose to the ground, smelling the 
trail where that cow's head had been 
dragged. 

Well, sir, Brushtail went right up to 
the thicket where the noose was. Then 
he laughed and laughed and laughed. 

''Well, well, well!" said Brushtail. 
" I guess I 'm just a little too smart for 


122 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


anybody around these woods. Ha! ha! 
ha! It's just as I thought. That silly 
old fat possum or somebody has been 
foolish enough to walk right in among 
those traps that Farmer Roe set and 
drag that head up here. Well, I'll just 
go on into this thicket and bring that 
head out and take charge of it myself. 
There's enough meat to last me several 
days." And Brushtail started into the 
thicket. 


WHAT HAPPENED 'TO BRUSH- 
TAIL THE FOX 

When Brushtail the Fox started into 
the thicket to get the cow’s head he 
never dreamed, of course, that there was 
anything there to catch him. So he 
plunged right into the thicket. Swish! 
Up went that tall, slim hickory tree, and 
Brushtail with it! You never heard 
such a yell as Brushtail gave. He yelled 
so loudly that all the little creatures of 
the Big Green Woods were awakened, 
and Doctor Rabbit did not have to call 
them. They all came running toward 
the place where the snare had been set. 

Even Jack Rabbit, away out in the 
Wide Prairie, heard Brushtail yell, and 
here came Jack Rabbit running as fast 
as he could. 


123 


124 DOCTOR RABBIT 

In a little time all the little creatures 
of the Big Green Woods were there. 
Now, you see, Brushtail had put his 
front legs through that noose, so that 
it held him around the body just behind 
his fore legs. The rope did not hurt 
him much, although it pulled consider- 
ably. So he dangled up there and 
howled, while all the little creatures 
below shouted and danced for joy. 

Of course, when Brushtail saw all the 
little creaturesr come so quickly, he knew 
a trick had been played upon him, but 
he was too badly scared to be angry. 
I should say he was! He was about 
scared out of his wits when that tree 
jerked him up into the air, and he was 
about as badly scared now as ever, 
because he could not see how he was 
ever going to get down from there. 

‘'Let me down! Let me down! Let 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 125 

me down!'' Brushtail shouted, clawing 
wildly at the air. 

‘'Oh yes!" said Doctor Rabbit. “I 
suppose we 'll let you down, foxy Brushy. 
I suppose we know what you would do 
to us mighty quick if you caught us. 
Yes, it's likely we'll let you down. 
Ha! ha! ha!" And Doctor Rabbit and 
all his friends danced around under the 
tree and laughed and laughed. 

“I'll go out of these woods and never, 
never, never come back if you'll just 
let me down!" Brushtail promised; and 
he really meant it. This was just what 
Doctor Rabbit was waiting to hear 
Brushtail say. 

But Doctor Rabbit said, “We'll go 
over to my house for a little while and 
talk the matter over." 

And, with Brushtail begging them 
to come back and let him down, they 


126 


DOCTOR RABBIT 


all hurried over to Doctor Rabbit’s 
house in the big tree. When they were 
inside Doctor Rabbit seated them all in 
his best chairs. 

Then he stood up and said, “My 
friends, I just wanted to have you all 
come over here and stay until morning. 
The fact is, that while Brushtail is pretty 
badly scared, he is not hurt much yet, 
and we must hurt him, at least a little, 
or he may forget his promise and come 
back to our woods. By morning, how- 
ever, I think he will have learned a 
lesson he never will forget, and I think 
he’ll keep out.” 

So they talked and had a good time 
at Doctor Rabbit’s until morning. It 
was just daylight when they went back 
to the slim hickory. Brushtail was still 
hanging there, and when he saw them 
how he did yell to be let down! 


AND BRUSHTAIL THE FOX 127 

‘'Very well, Brother Brushy,'' Doctor 
Rabbit said, “we'll let you down, and 
if you ever come back into our woods 
again—/' 

“Oh," yelled Brushtail before Doctor 
Rabbit could say another word, “I'll 
never, never, never come back if I can 
get down. I 'd rather live on crickets and 
bugs all my life than to take chances." 
But Brushtail did not say any more, 
because he wanted to get down right 
away. 

“O. Possum," said Doctor Rabbit, 
“if you'll go up and gnaw that rope 
in two so that old Brushtail can drop to 
'the ground, you may have that cow's 
head all for yourself." 

“I'll do that," O. Possum said, and 
he began climbing the tree. Presently 
O. Possum was above Brushtail, and 
began gnawing the rope. 


128 DOCTOR RABBIT 

''Oh, dear me!'’ shouted Brushtail 
after O. Possum had gnawed for a time. 
" It's an awfully long way to the ground, 
I'm afraid!" 

And then O. Possum got the rope 
gnawed right in two. Plunk! Brush- 
tail struck the ground. Well, sir, he got 
right up and started to run. He was 
so stiff he could not run well at first, 
but the farther he went the faster he ran. 
After he got across the Murmuring 
Brook he went away through the woods 
on the other side like a streak. I don't 
know of anything that could have scared 
Brushtail and made him stay scared as 
that snare did. 

Brushtail the Fox never came around 
the Big Green Woods after that. Doctor 
Rabbit and his friends were certainly 
glad and happy. 





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